Jan. 26; Lets Look into it: The Depth of Text

Race is a sensitive issue in our culture. People don't seem to want to talk about it or even think about it.

I've often said that a piece of art or literature can say as much about the consumer as it can the producer. When a person judges and interprets a piece of literature, that person does so through one's own lens. We all have experience and preferences that subject us to taking things in all at once and each reaching different conclusions. Text can have very different meanings to each and every one of us, just based on how we've come to see the world.

There's no doubt that things like race, ethnicity, and class play a steady hand in how we absorb the world around us. Even if you carry your white privilege member card and tend not to expend much conscious thought on race, you're perspective on the things you read is impacted you've ever turned on the six o'clock news or learned about the Civil Rights Movement, or have been introduced to the idea of affirmative action (rest in peace).

Langston Hughes wrote very different literature than Walt Whitman. That's obvious. What doesn't get discussed as often even in intellectual circles is that I likely have a very different interpretation of the work of those two poets than would someone like Muhammad Ali.

bell hooks:

I appreciate the perspective that bell hooks offers on the issues of race. There really isn't a whole lot for me to say in contrast to what she said. I think her thoughts and opinions are valid and not unfounded in the least. I think if she was in our class to participate in group conversation everyone would be able to grasp a deeper understanding of what lies on her mind and we would all be the better for having listened and participated.

Peggy McCintosh

She seems to have a few references about committing foul, clumsy, or foolish acts that she knows won't be attributed to her race. I think that's an interesting point that I don't readily consider. Of course a minority doesn't HAVE to consider that their status represents their race. But that doesn't mean that there won't be people present who create negative stereotypes based on such things.

There's an interesting point about the ability to create one's company. For better or worse, minorities have done their part to create their own exclusive social networks to counter that pattern. It appears to be almost a mutual desire for different races to want to spend at least some time with others who share their experience and skin color.